An Active Server Page (ASP) is a HTML page that includes one or more
scripts which could be written in various languages that are
processed on a Web server before the page is sent to the user.
An ASP involves programs that run on the server, usually tailoring a
page for the user. Typically, the script in the Web page at the
server uses input received as the result of the user's request for
the page to access data from a database and then builds or
customises the page there and then before sending it to the back to the
user's computer. Since it is processed on the server, it can be
delivered to almost any browser.Top

C is a structured, procedural programming language that has been
widely used both for operating systems and applications and that has
had a wide following in the academic community. Many versions of
Unix-based operating systems are written in C.Top

CD-ROM (Compact Disc, read-only-memory) is an adaptation of the
CD that is designed to store computer data in the form of text and
graphics, as well as hi-fi stereo sound. The original data format
standard was defined by Philips and Sony in the 1983 Yellow Book.
The format of the CD-ROM is the same as for audio CDs: a standard CD
is 120 mm (4.75 inches) in diameter and 1.2 mm (0.05 inches) thick
and is composed of a polycarbonate plastic substrate (under layer -
this is the main body of the disc), one or more thin reflective
metal (usually aluminium) layers, and a lacquer coating.

CD-ROMs are standardised and will work in any
standard CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM drives can also read audio compact
discs for music, although CD players cannot read CD-ROM discs. Top

The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard way for a Web
server to pass a Web user's request to an application program and to
receive data back to forward to the user.

When the user requests a
Web page (for example, by clicking on a highlighted word or entering
a Web site address), the server sends back the requested page.

However, when a user fills out a form on a Web page and sends it in,
it usually needs to be processed by an application program. The Web
server typically passes the form information to a small application
program that processes the data and may send back a confirmation
message.

This method or convention for passing data back and forth
between the server and the application is called the common gateway
interface (CGI). It is part of the Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP).Top

A client is the requesting program or user in a client / server
relationship. For example, the user of a Web browser is effectively
making client requests for pages from servers all over the Web. The
browser itself is a client in its relationship with the computer
that is getting and returning the requested HTML file. The computer
handling the request and sending back the HTML file is a server.Top

A cascading style sheet (CSS) is a Web page derived from multiple
sources with a defined order of precedence where the definitions of
any style element conflict. Using CSS helps to create a level of
professionalism and aesthetic value on your Web sites, but it's most
useful feature is it's ability to allow you to update multiple pages
by changing just one file. Using CSS can also considerably cut down
on file download time.

Style sheets work like templates: styles for particular HTML
elements are defined just once, and then used over and over on any
number of Web pages. To change how an element looks, the style can
be changed; the element automatically changes wherever it appears.

Originally, HTML was intended to mark up only a Web page's structure
and not how it displayed on the screen. The World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) developed a complementary markup system, CSS, which
was designed to make it easy to define a page's appearance without
affecting its HTML structure.Top

Delphi competes with Visual Basic as an offering for an
object-oriented, visual programming approach to application
development. Based on object Pascal programming language, the latest
version of Delphi includes facilities for rapidly building or
converting an application into a Web service.Top

A development server is a server which may be used by a team of
developers in order to test elements or entireties of Web sites to
establish how an end user will see them, without having to post that
content to the Web site itself. Development servers run in-house and
usually run the same operating system as the live Web server for
that particular Web site.Top

An alternative to using a search engine is to explore a structured directory of topics.
Yahoo, which also lets you use its
search engine, is one of the most widely-used directories on the Web.
The DMOZ Open Directory Project is another popular,
human edited directory.Top

Macromedia's popular HTML authoring tool. Products such as these provide an easy way for novices
and intermediates to create Web sites in an easy to use environment. For more information or to
purchase, click here.Top

Ecommerce is an abbreviating of electronic commerce (EC) and is the act of buying and selling of goods
and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web via Web sites. This term and a newer term,
ebusiness, are often used interchangably. For online retail selling, the term etailing is sometimes used.Top

Macromedia Fireworks MX® is graphics creation and manipulation application and has the familiar
tools that graphics professionals demand, brought together in a single, web-centred environment.
You can quickly create original Web graphics and interactivity, from simple graphical buttons to
complex rollover effects and pop-up menus.

Fireworks MX® delivers a complete graphics toolset with a
workflow that promotes teamwork and enhances productivity. For more information or to purchase, click
here.Top

Flash® is a popular authoring tool developed by Macromedia. It is used to create vector graphics-based
animation programs with full-screen navigation interfaces, graphic illustrations, and simple
interactivity in a file format that is small enough to stream across a normal modem connection. The
software is ubiquitous on the Web, both because of its speed and for the smooth way in which it
renders graphics.

Flash® gives Web designers the ability to import artwork using whatever bitmap or illustration tool
they prefer, and to create animation and special effects, and add sound and interactivity.

Web users can download Flash® Player to view Flash® content, which performs across multiple browsers
and platforms. Flash® is lauded for being one of the Web's most accessible plug-in. According to an
independent study cited by Macromedia, 97.8% of Web users have Flash® Player installed.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a standard Internet protocol, is the simplest way to exchange files
between computers on the Internet. Like the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which transfers
displayable Web pages and related files, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), which
transfers email, FTP is an application protocol that uses the Internet's
TCP/IP protocols. FTP is commonly used to transfer Web page files from their
creator to the computer that acts as their server for everyone on the Internet. It's also commonly
used to download programs and other files to your computer from other servers.

As a user, you can use FTP with a simple command line interface (for example, from the Windows MS-DOS
Prompt window) or with a commercial program that offers a graphical user interface. Your Web browser
can also make FTP requests to download programs you select from a Web page. Using FTP, you can also
update (delete, rename, move, and copy) files at a server. You need to logon to an FTP server. However,
publicly available files are easily accessed using anonymous FTP.Top

An FTP client is a program that allows you to perform FTP commands using an easy to use graphical
user interface. Where your host provides it, many FTP clients support the resuming of broken downloads
and multiple file updates.Top

GNU is a software philosophy created by Richard Stallman et al that stated that software should come with source code so that it can be copied, modified, and redistributed. The GNU project was started in 1983 by Stallman who then formed the Free Software Foundation. He believes that users should be free to do whatever they want with software they acquire, including making copies for friends and modifying the source code and repackaging it with a distribution charge.

The term "free" means "freedom," but this doesn't necessarily mean there is no charge for software. The Free Software Foundation does charge an initial distribution price for GNU. Redistributors can also charge for copies either for cost recovery or for profit.

HTML is a simple, universal, text-based markup language that
provides the basis of the World Wide Web. It was developed in the
early nineties by Tim Berners-Lee as a way for physicists to share
research results with each other. Web sites, for the most part, are
authored in HTML.Top

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images,
sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. Relative to the
TCP/IP suite of protocols (which are the basis for information exchange on the Internet), HTTP is
an application protocol.

Your Web browser is an HTTP client, sending requests to server machines.
When the browser user enters file requests by either "opening" a Web file (typing in a Uniform
Resource Locator) or clicking on a hypertext link, the browser builds an HTTP request and sends it
to the Internet Protocol address indicated by the URL.Top

Indexing is the method that search engines use when they search your site and rank it. In easy to
understand terms, to say your site has been indexed, is to say it has been looked over by the
search engines and placed in position to other sites within the search
engines indexed pages. A search engine index is its pages of sites returned to you upon searching.Top

An intranet is a private network that is contained within an organisation. It may consist of many
interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the Wide Area Network. Typically, an
intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet.

The main
purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An
intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences, etc.Top

Internet Service Provider, the company that supplies your connection to the Internet. Internet
Service Providers more often than not offer a whole range of related services such as email, domain
names, hosting and Internet and Web services. Some popular ISP's include
AOL, Pipex,
Demon Internet and Tiscali.Top

JavaScript is a script language developed by Netscape. It is similar in capability and features to
Microsoft's Visual Basic, Sun's TCL, Perl, and IBM's Rexx.
JavaScript is used in conjunction with HTML and CSS to improve the functionality and design of Web pages applications.Top

Kazaa (Kazaa Media Desktop or KMD) is a peer-to-peer file-sharing program owned by Sharman Networks. Kazaa is described as "a proactive, virtual, global technology and publishing company, focused on delivering peer-to-peer software."

Kazaa has been criticised in its effort to go mainstream, mainly because it includes advertising software (adware) in the installation.

Unlike the file-sharing program Napster, which used a centralised server to index files, Kaaza users share files directly from each other's hard drives.

Network administrators tend to discourage the use of Kazaa, because in addition to Kazaa users taking up valuable network resources, several damaging viruses and worms have been distributed from within its interface.Top

Linux is an operating system that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very
low-cost operating system comparable to traditional and usually more expensive Unix systems. Linux
has a reputation as a very efficient and fast-performing system. Linux's kernel (the central part of
the operating system) was developed by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki in Finland. To
complete the operating system, Torvalds and other team members made use of system components
developed by members of the Free Software Foundation for the GNU project.

Unlike Windows and other proprietary systems, Linux is publicly open and extendible by contributors.
Linux comes in versions for all the major microprocessor platforms including the Intel, PowerPC, Sparc, and Alpha platforms. It's also available on
IBM's S/390. Linux is distributed commercially by a number of companies. A magazine, Linux Journal,
is published as well as a number of books and pocket references.Top

A meta tag is a tag in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that describes some aspect of the
contents of a Web page. The information that you provide in a meta tag is used by search engines to
index a page so that someone searching for the kind of information the page contains will be able to
find it.

The meta tag is placed near the top of the HTML in a Web page as part of the heading. There
are several kinds of meta tags, but the most important for search engine indexing
are the keywords meta tag and the description meta tag.

The keywords meta tag lists the words or phrases
that best describe the contents of the page. The description meta tag includes a brief description of
the page. Both the keywords and the description are used by search engines in adding a page to their
index. Some search engines also use the description to show the searcher a summary of the page's contents.

Although most search engines also use the contents of a page as a way to determine how to index it,
the creator of a Web page should be sure to include meta tags with appropriate keywords and description.
Well-written meta tags can help make the page rank higher in search results.Top

In information technology, a network is a series of points or nodes interconnected by communication paths. Networks can interconnect with other networks and contain subnetworks.

The most types of network include the bus, star, and Token Ring. Networks can also be characterised in terms of distance as local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), and wide area networks (WAN). Top

PayPal is a quick and easy way for businesses to accept credit card payments online, and a popular
way for people to send money to each other on the Internet. PayPal enables any business or consumer
with an email address to securely, conveniently, and cost-effectively send and receive these payments.

Perl is a script programming language that is similar in syntax to the C language
and is an interpreted language. When compiled, a Perl program is almost (but not quite) as fast as
a fully precompiled C language program. Perl is regarded as a good choice for developing common
gateway interface (CGI) programs because it has good text manipulation facilities.Top

In Web programming, PHP is a script language and interpreter that is freely available and used
primarily on LinuxWeb servers. PHP, originally
derived from Personal Home Page Tools, now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, which the PHP
FAQ describes as a "recursive acronym".

PHP is an alternative to Active Server Pages
(ASP) technology. As with ASP, the PHP script is embedded within a Web page along
with its HTML. Before the page is sent to a user that has requested it, the Web
server calls PHP to interpret and perform the operations called for in the PHP script.Top

POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving email.
POP3 is a client/server protocol in which email is received and held for you by your Internet
server. Periodically, you (or your client email receiver) check your mailbox on
the server and download any mail. POP can be thought of as a "store-and-forward" service.Top

Ranking is the term used when talking in general terms of the position of a Web site within the
index of a search engine. Ranking can be improved
by various techniques and is dependent on many variables, including meta tags,
keywords, link popularity and page content.Top

On the Internet, a search engine is a coordinated set of programs that include:

A spider (also called
a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to every page or representative pages on every Web site that wants
to be searchable and reads it, using hypertext links on each page to discover and read a site's other
pages.

A program that creates a huge index (sometimes called a "catalogue") from the pages that have
been read.

A program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index, and
returns results to you.

In general, a server is a computer program that provides services to other computer programs in the same or other computers.

The computer that a server program runs in is also frequently referred to as a server (though it may contain a number of server and client programs).

In the client / server programming model, a server is a program that awaits and fulfils requests from client programs in the same or other computers. A given application in a computer may function as a client with requests for services from other programs and also as a server of requests from other programs.

Specific to the Web, a Web server is the computer program (housed in a computer) that serves requested HTML pages or files. A Web client is the requesting program associated with the user. The Web browser in your computer is a client that requests HTML files from Web servers.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending and
receiving email. However, since it's limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end,
it's usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or Internet Message
Access Protocol (IMAP), that let the user save messages in a server mailbox and download them
periodically from the server. In other words, users typically use a program that uses SMTP for
sending email and either POP3 or IMAP for receiving messages that have been received for them at
their local server. Most mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook let you specify both an SMTP server
and a POP server.Top

Spam is unsolicited email on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, it's a form of bulk mail,
often to a list culled from subscribers to a Usenet discussion group or obtained by companies that
specialise in creating email distribution lists.

To the receiver, it usually seems like junk email.
In general, it's not considered good netiquette to send spam. It's generally equivalent to
unsolicited phone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone
shares the cost of maintaining the Internet.

Some apparently unsolicited email is, in fact, email
people agreed to receive when they registered with a site and checked a box agreeing to receive
postings about particular products or interests. This is known as both opt-in email and permission-
based email.Top

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard interactive and programming language for getting
information from and updating a database. Queries let you select, insert, update, find out the
location of data, and so forth.Top

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic communication language or
protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network.

When you are set up with direct access to the Internet, your computer is provided with a copy of the
TCP/IP program just as every other computer that you may send messages to or get information from also
has a copy of TCP/IP. TCP/IP is a two-layer program. The higher layer, Transmission Control Protocol,
manages the assembling of a message or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over the Internet
and received by a TCP layer that reassembles the packets into the original message. The lower layer,
Internet Protocol, handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination.
Each gateway computer on the network checks this address to see where to forward the message. Even
though some packets from the same message are routed differently than others, they'll be reassembled at
the destination.

Many Internet users are familiar with the even higher layer application protocols that use TCP/IP to
get to the Internet. These include the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Telnet (Telnet) which lets you logon
to remote computers, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). These and other
protocols are often packaged together with TCP/IP as a "suite".Top

Visual Basic (VB) is a programming environment from Microsoft® in which a programmer uses a graphical
user interface to choose and modify pre-selected sections of code written in the BASIC programming
language. Since Visual Basic is easy to learn and fast to write code with, it's sometimes used to
prototype an application that will later be written in a more difficult but efficient language.

Visual Basic is also widely used to write working programs. Microsoft® says that there are at least
3 million developers using Visual Basic.Top

A Web server is a program that, using the client/server
model and the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), serves the
files that form Web pages to Web users (whose computers contain HTTP clients that forward their
requests). Every computer on the Internet that contains a Web site must have a Web server program.Top

A WYSIWYG (pronounced "wiz-ee-wig") editor or program is one that allows an interface or content
developer to create a graphical user interface (GUI) or page of text so that the developer can see
what the end result will look like while the interface or document is being created.

WYSIWYG is an
acronym for "what you see is what you get". A WYSIWYG editor can be contrasted with more traditional
editors that require the developer to enter descriptive codes (or markup) and do not permit an
immediate way to see the results of the markup.Top